Installed Rod's high flow banjo on the bottom of the filter housing, and installed fuel pressure gauge, put a new filter in while I was at it.<br> I have seen a lot of posts where guys were having trouble priming after filter changes, and normally I would just bump the starter a couple times and start her up. You know the normal crank,crank, run rough etc....<br> Last night I took the gauge off of my Briar Hoppers test hose, leaving the hose open ended. Hooked up to the VP44 test port, bumped the starter to make lift pump run it's long cycle. When I had clear fuel coming out of the hose, I turned the key off to stop the lift pump,and unhooked the test gauge hose.<br> The moral of the story is, she started up on the first try, idle smooth and never shuddered. ;D<br> If you don't have the Briar Hopper gauge set up, you can get an a/c charge hose from any a/c supply and do the same.<br>wk

 

Would I sound stupid if I asked you to explain that a little slower and in more detail for us dudes who haven't dealt with diesels before. It sounds like something that is really important for me to know.<br>I have an automatic pump for bleeding brakes, etc., but I'm not sure if i can prime my system with it. So your way sounds a million times better and probably easier also!

 

I do sort of the same thing but with the dump valve on the filter canister. I've realized that the LP wont stay in pump mode when you bump the starter. It will jump into bypass as soon as it feels some resistance, leaving you with no fuel pressure to push fuel in and air out. So for the fix, I have run a hose out of the canister down in the frame and out one of the holes. This way I can put a bucket under the hose end and bump the starter with the dump valve open. As soon as I get fuel coming out in a steady stream, I close it and listen for the pump to be pumping under pressure. If it jumps into bypass then try it again. Needless to say I get mine to start with ease that way after I do a filter change.

 

Puke,
If you have a 98.5-02 truck, you will have a shrader valve located on the side of your vp-44 injector pump. This is the test port used to test lift pump post filter fuel pressure.
When you change fuel filters you will normally get air in the system and cause a hard starting condition. Some guys completely drain the filter housing , others don't, but in most cases it will be hard to start. Sometimes you will even have to loosen a couple injector lines to get it primed up.
By hooking the a/c charge hose to this shrader valve ( charge hose will press the valve to allow flow through the hose) you allow the trapped air in the system to be pushed out the hose and not into the vp-44. When you bump the starter (don't crank just bump, and leave the key in the on position) your lift pump will run a longer cycle to prime the system. You may have to do 2 cycles, but once you have clear fuel out of the hose, just disconnect the hose and start er up.
You can find good info and filter change instructions at www.dodgeram.org
hope this helps, sorry for the long post
wk

 

You don't even need the AC hose. Just loosen or remove the valve core in the test port, slip on a lenght of plastic tube, and bump till fuel flows. Tighten the core and start.

 

Thanks a bunch,<br>I'll be trying that next fuel filter change.<br>I'd like to put a post lp guage on there also...I'd actually like to get a pre-lp guage on there too, if it starts sucking too many inches of mercury it would probably be nice to know.